“Concerns about whether Huawei shares data with the Chinese government are not wholly unfounded. China passed a National Intelligence Law in 2017 which stated that organisations must “support, co-operate with and collaborate in national intelligence work”. There are also concerns about Huawei’s founder, Ren Zhengfei, as he was an engineer in China’s army and joined the Communist Party in 1978.

The current geopolitical climate lends itself to many more scenarios like this, as presidents are now talking about cyber security, not just industry practitioners. The fact that the US recently placed a ban on the use of Kaspersky software within its federal agencies over concerns that it is vulnerable to Kremlin influence, is not too much out of line with its recent anti-globalisation policies of trade protectionism.

Though the industry has established a coalition of 26 nations on the Common Criteria programme to evaluate technology products using third-party facilities, it still seems a political motive will drive the decision in some parts of the world. Therefore, Huawei will require more than Ren Zhengfei’s comment, but rather a political impetus to take the heat off.”